Love & Drama
by Drmiracle
Summary: It's a fact of life that you have certain people in your life. There's the blind girl, the rich girl, the secretive girl, the cute golden boy, the sweet boy, the mysterious smart girl, the player, the athlete, and as always, the ones caught in the middle. But, if you mix them all together you get love and drama.
1. Prologue

**Hey guys! This is my new fanfic! It was meant to be all Jara, but I changed my mind! I hope you like it because I put a lot of hard work into it and I think it's my best work so far. It will be updated every three days if it gets good reviews.**

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**Love & Drama**

**Chapter One: Prologue**

She sat in the lounge, not saying anything. Her breathing came out in long sighs & huffs, while she carefully moved the pieces around the board. She felt around the wood, trying to decide what to do next. Her eyes looked straight ahead, not blinking at all. She moved the very last piece before saying, "Checkmate."

She got up from the raggedy chair and walked over to the couch, before jumping up at the sound of knocking on the door.

"It's just me," a voice said, opening and closing the door on the far end of the room with a small 'click.'

She settled back onto the couch and sighed.

"Am I late?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered blankly. "I finished the game myself."

"Oh. . . Mum and dad said that visiting hours would be over, but I wanted to see for myself. I didn't think there could be a new schedule just like that."

He rubbed her bare arm, and she shuddered at the contact. He quickly removed his hand and picked up a blanket, draping it over her shoulders.

"That's better," she mumbled.

"How're things here?" he said after a long silence.

"So much better," she answered, a smile tugging on her lips. "Gene says that if I keep making progress, I'll be out of here by the end of this year."

"You do everything for yourself, Mara. Of course you'll be out soon." He put his arm over his younger sister's shoulders, and pulled her into his side.

She smiled, thinking about how things would be when she got out.

She'd be back with her friends and neighbors and would finally get to go back to school. She'd be _normal _again. Well, close to normal.

"Everything'll be the same again," she said suddenly.

"Yeah," he said. "Everything'll be normal."

* * *

The next morning Mara awoke in her bed, a smile still on her lips.

"Good morning," a voice said.

Mara jumped, but then laughed.

"Joy! You gave me a fright!"

"That's kind of what I was going for," the brunette said, walking over to the darker haired girl's bed and sitting. "I bought you a muffin."

She handed the girl a warm bag and she opened it eagerly. She took out the warm, fluffy muffin and ate it greedily.

Joy laughed and said, "You look ridiculous!"

Mara smiled her pretty little smile and walked over to the window. She picked up the dark shaded glasses, and put them on.

Joy immediately stopped laughing, and walked over to Mara, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Joey said you can go out on the track again," she said.

Ah the track. Mara had loved the track. The smell of oak trees and grass and lemon blossoms. The running and the laughing and heavy breathing. God, she missed that track.

But she didn't show it. She merely nodded.

"And Trudy said you can go out now. You can leave Redwood, Mara!"

Mara smiled, but it faded when Joy said, "Not permanently, though. But you can go shopping with me and Amber again. Well, with me anyway. Amber's visiting her gran in Paris. She said we have to have you back in a four-hour time period. But it's a good start, yeah?"

"Yeah," Mara agreed. At least she could leave _at all. _Not many people could do that in Redwood.

Joy paused for a moment before saying, "They arrested him, Mara."

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**Ta da! A cliffhager! Tell me what you think in your review, and if you do you get a sneak peek at the next chapter!**

**REVIEW! XOXO -Drmiracle**


	2. Newbie

Mara froze. She wanted to blink so badly but she couldn't, so she just gapped at the window. They had arrested _him._ They had caught _him._ Even after he had ran for nearly three years they had still caught him.

The had caught Noah Conn, the jerk jock at Mara's old school. But that's not all he was.

He was the reason Mara was in this place. He was the reason she was _blind._

Mara didn't know what to say. She was both happy and shocked. She choked out a shaky, "When?"

"Last week." Joy sat down in the chair next to her. "Andy was supposed to tell you, but he told me he couldn't do it. He said he could never speak of him again. So, I told him I'd do it."

"Is the trial over?" Mara's voice was broken, and shaky, and you could tell she was close to tears.

"No. No one's standing with him. Everyone at the party saw him do it, and even his lawyer is convinced he did it."

"Is he still lying?" Mara knew the answer, but she asked anyway.

"Yeah. He's still telling everyone you did it to yourself for attention. I don't know why he thinks he'll be proved innocent, considering he ran away, proving he's guilty, and everyone saw him with the stink bomb."

Mara nodded slowly.

"Did he tell the secret?"

* * *

Jerome Clarke road around the sunny summer streets of Liverpool in his topless, cherry-red car. His friend Alfie was in the seat next to him, laughing at the Facebook posts he was scrolling through.

"That's hilarious!" Alfie declared, handed Jerome his phone.

Jerome quickly scanned the phone.

It read, 'I was on the run, while she was in the bun.' with a picture of Noah Conn attached to it.

"That sicko," Jerome muttered, handing Alfie his phone and turning his attention to the road.

"Where're you going anyway?" Alfie said, still scrolling through the various posts.

"Redwood," Jerome answered. "They have a little internship thing there. All I have to do is help out a patient and I get paid."

"Lucky," Alfie mumbled.

Jerome smirked, and continued to drive through the busy street.

Today would be a good day...

* * *

Jerome walked into Redwood Center For the Physically Disabled and Blind. Alfie was in the car, on the phone with his 'girlfriend' Wanda. Or was it Willa? Maybe Willow. . .

The point was he was talking to his girlfriend. He walked up to the front desk, where a woman with a friendly smile greeted him.

"Hi," she said brightly. "My name's Mary Andrews. How may I be of your assistance?"

"I'm Jerome Clarke," he said. "I'm the new intern."

"Ah," Mary said, lifting her chin a bit. "You'll want to see Trudy first then."

She disappeared into a room behind her desk and came out three minutes later with another woman. She had tan skin, dark hair and eyes and a very friendly smile.

"Trudy here will show you how to act with the patients." Mary said hastily. It was obvious she didn't like Trudy much.

Trudy's tone was the exact opposite from Mary's recent one, though.

"Hello dear," she said. "You're Jerome Clarke right?"

Jerome nodded and the woman said, "Good. Your paperwork said that you are 19, I do believe."

Jerome nodded again.

"Then I know what you can do," Trudy said with a wide smile.

Trudy led Jerome through a series of halls and rooms. He couldn't help but to feel uncomfortable with all the things he saw; patients being given medication and having outbursts, and not to mention the people stumbling down the stairs. This wasn't a nut-house, but Jerome still felt weird about it.

"Here we are," Trudy finally said, stopping at a door. Jerome saw that it said 328. That meat they were on the third floor.

"Why didn't we just take the elevator?" Jerome said.

"We don't have one," Trudy said quickly, opening the door and gesturing for Jerome to follow her in.

Inside there were two girls. One of them had tan skin, dark brown eyes and black hair. The other had brown hair, brown eyes and skin a little lighter than the other's.

"Hello Joy," Trudy said to the brown haired girl. She smiled, and then Trudy turned her attention to the other girl. "Mara," she said. "Are you okay?"

The darker haired girl was staring at a wall, not blinking at all. "Yes Trudy. Whose that with you? I can hear him breathing."

It was then Jerome realized she was blind, and he gasped at how she knew he was there. The girl chuckled and said again, "Who's that with you?"

"Mara this is Jerome," Trudy said. "He'll be your helping hand for the next couple of months."

"Trudy," the girl said. "You said it yourself; I don't need help. I make myself breakfast for God's sake!"

"Yes I know," Trudy said, an edge in her voice. It was obvious she didn't need any help; she was reaching into a bag and grabbing some gum, having no trouble at all. "Jerome wants to help you, though. He wants to get to know you."

She stayed silent for a moment, and then said, "Fine. But I don't want him following me around like a puppy."

"Okay then," Trudy said, clapping her hands together. "You all, get to know each other."

And with that, Trudy left, closing the door behind her.

"So," the brown-haired girl said. "Who wants to go first?"


	3. Getting to Know You Better

**Hey guys! I think I'm gonna update this every 3-5 days now. I have a rollercoaster of drama for you guys, but it all starts later into the story, sorry! Just keep reading, it gets good. BTW, this first part doesn't come up for a LONG time. I'm talking chapter thirty!**

**Chapter Three: Getting to Know You Better**

Patricia sat down in a hurry and dialed the number she had on speed-dial. "Hey, um, can I ask you something?"

"What is it, Patricia?!" the voice from the other side asked, annoyed. Moaning and sighing could be heard from the other end.

"My pills are late!" Patricia shouted.

Something exploded, and glass shattered. "God dammit! Patricia, I have to call you back. I have to check off. For three to four months. Bye."

"Wait! Don't-"

But it was too late. He had already hung up. Patricia slammed her phone on her counter and sat down. She wouldn't be calling that number for a while.

* * *

"Checkmate," Mara said, defeating Jerome once again.

The three of them had grown pretty close in the matter of three hours, and Jerome and Mara had learned they both loved Chess. Now they were having a heated game and Mara was winning for the fifth time, while Joy went off to get them all coffee before visiting hours were over.

"Dang it!" Jerome yelled, throwing his fists on the table, making Mara jump.

"Sorry," he said.

"It's fine," Mara said. "Not being able to see anything makes it hard to know if danger is around." She laughed humorlessly.

Jerome looked at the girl, his eyes searching her innocent face.

"Why are you staring at me?" She said suddenly.

Jerome jumped. "How did you know?"

"I'm blind Jerome, but that doesn't mean I can't see." Mara said, grinning.

Jerome smiled, and went back to staring at her. Pretty soon, he was waving a hand in front of her face, no reason for it at all.

"Quit it!" Mara yelled, laughing a bit.

Jerome started laughing his eyes out, and Mara joined him.

"Knock knock," a familiar voice said.

Joy entered the room, three cups in a little tray from Starbucks. "I got coffee."

"Yes!" Jerome said, taking the cup and greedily drinking it, spilling quite a bit on the tile floors.

Joy laughed. "You look like Mara with that muffin this morning!"

Mara started laughing too, picturing how she could've looked; little pieces of muffin all over her shirt, her hair messy, and her mouth full with the fluffy goodness.

Jerome smiled, and went back to drinking his coffee.

"What're your names?" Jerome said after a minute.

"We told you," Joy said. "Joy and Mara."

"Last names," Jerome corrected himself.

"Oh," Joy said. "Joy Mercer and Mara Jaffray."

Jerome practically choked on his coffee.

"You're Mara Jaffray?!" He yelled in disbelieve.

Mara nodded slowly.

"What are you doing here?! Aren't you supposed to be at home with family? Away from Noah?"

"I can never get away from Noah," Mara said barely above a whisper. "But my mum and dad said they wouldn't know how to help me get better, so they sent me here."

Jerome nodded, taking it all in. It made sense. But didn't they ever visit or send flowers? Her room was almost completely bare. The only flowers were some Daisies and Roses. Two of them from a boy named Andy, and the other one from Joy. She had a cluttered desk, a bed, a radio, and an isle with paints set up in front of it. Where were the things from her parents?

"Do you get to leave for trial?" He asked, his voice a bit shaky.

Mara waited a moment, but then said, "No."

* * *

"How could you not let her leave?" Jerome yelled into the phone.

"It's her mother's orders!" The woman shouted back. "She said not to let her leave until she was positively better!"

"She is!" He shouted back. "She can make an omlet and a whole buffet if she wanted to! And she's blind!"

He was walking down the dark, empty street to his house. He was happy no one was out because he was sure the police would arrest him for public disturbance.

Alfie had left with his car, and now he was walking. He was glad he didn't live far from Redwood, because it was freezing and small raindrops were beginning to fall from the sky.

"Mr. Clarke," the woman said sternly. "We are highly aware of Mara's physical intelligence, and she's free to leave by the end of this year, but it is 1 A.M in the morning and you have been arguing with me for 30 minutes! I suggest you hang up, call again in the morning and apologize. Good night, sir!"

He heard the other line click, and he threw his phone in his jacket's pocket, turning around the corner.

He walked for a few more minutes, before entering an apartment building and stepping into the elevator.

He pressed the '3' button and waited for the elevator to stop at his floor. When it finally did, he got out his keys and swung them in his fingers, whistling as he went.

Suddenly, out of thin air, a girl bumped into him. She fell to the ground with a loud thud, causing her to cry out in pain. Jerome immediately knelt down next to her and said, "Are you alright?"

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**So? Love it? Hate it? Tell me in your review!**


	4. Nina

**Hey guys. Sorry for not updating for over a week! Wait, don't kill me yet! I hope you;ll be happy to know that I was typing up chapter thirty-eight of this story(I had writer's block, so it took longer). That's right; 38. I hope you feel better now, because you know this story has more than 30 chapters. Anyways enjoy the chapter!**

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**Chapter Four: Nina**

"Yeah," the girl said sarcastically. "I just fell on my ass and cut my knee and I'm just fine!"

Jerome noticed her American accent and smiled. "Here," he said, extending his hand.

The girl smiled, and took it gradually. Her dirty-blonde hair was long and wavy, and her emerald-green eyes were sparkling. Her cheeks were slightly pink and her skin was an olive-tone. And, though he hated to admit it, Jerome thought she was beautiful.

"How about we go to my place, and we can get that cut cleaned," Jerome said, smiling his dazzling smile.

The girl blushed and said, "Do you have hot chocolate?"

* * *

"I don't know if my roommate'll be here," Jerome said, turning the key in the lock. Nina had dropped her overcoat somewhere in the halls, and he went to get it. Now they were in front of his door, not knowing who or what stupid thing would be waiting for them when they stepped inside.

"But if he is, ignore anything he's doing."

The girl smiled and watched as he turned the knob and opened the door. She gasped at what she saw.

A darker skinned boy around her age was on the couch, hovering over a pretty red-head girl. They were both shirtless, and the girl was just about to take off Alfie's pants when Jerome said, "Hello people!"

The boy jumped off the girl and she looked around for something to cover herself with.

"Alfie!" Jerome shouted at the boy who had to be his roommate. "I'm so sor-" Jerome started to say to the girl, but she was laughing her butt off.

"That. . . was. . . hilarious!" She said in between laughs.

Jerome started laughing, too, causing the red-head girl and Alfie to blush.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Alfie," the girl said, grabbing her overcoat and buttoning it up.

"See you tomorrow, Ella?" he guessed.

"Ashlee," she corrected, leaving.

"Now about my cut. . ." The girl said, turning to Jerome.

"Oh right," Jerome said. "The bathroom's that way. There should be some stuff in there." Jerome gestured to the hallway and she walked over to it. Jerome followed suit, shaking his head at Alfie and muttering something about desperate virgins.

* * *

"OW! OW! OWWW!" The girl shouted again.

"Well if you stayed still it wouldn't hurt as much!" Jerome said, irritated.

They both froze when they heard Alfie call, "If you're going to make such noises, shouts _and _comments, I suggest you get a room!"

The girl sighed at the boy's stupidity, and extending her leg towards Jerome.

Her long, wavy hair had been tied in a ponytail and her white shorts had been soaked in water from her previous jump from the cold liquid on her previously-bleeding cut.

Jerome nodded, and picked up the tweezers. He picked up the small hair in the cut, trying his best to be gently. The cut was deep but wasn't bleeding anymore. Now it just needed to be cleaned so it wouldn't get infected.

Jerome then proceeded to clean the cut with the alcohol and cotton balls, while the girl watched in amazement.

"You're really good at this," she said.

"Yeah," Jerome said, not looking up. "My dad's a doctor. Or was one. He ran off a while back to be with some Brazilian chick."

The words slipped off of his tongue easily, though it hurt to think of what really happened. . .

"Oh," she said, not knowing what else to say.

"Yeah," he said, still focused on the cut. "But I really wanna be a doctor. I applied to Yale a while back, but I haven't gotten anything back yet."

She nodded and stayed silent for the rest of the cleaning.

After a while, Jerome was done cleaning the cut. He had put a tight wrap over it along with some healing cream.

Nina was putting on her jacket and on her way out the door when Jerome said, "I never did catch your name."

The girl smiled. "Nina," she said, before walking out the door and vanishing through the halls.

Jerome closed the door and whispered, "Nina."

* * *

**The drama picks up soon when all of-almost all of-the characters are introduced. **

**Love & Kisses**

**-Miracle**


	5. Friends?

**Hey guys! This story is officially of of hiatus! I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

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**Chapter Five: Friends?**

The next day Jerome woke up to hear his alarm clock going off.

Ring!

Ring!

Ring!

Rin-

Jerome cut it off, rubbing his eyes and groaning. It was only 7:30 and he was waking up. Why had he taken this job? Why hadn't he spent the summer drinking and partying like the other seniors from his school?

"Idiot," he mumbled to himself as he put on a button-up shirt and some jeans.

He walked into the kitchen and fixed himself some coffee while putting on his shoes. He drank it greedily while putting on his overcoat, hat and scarf. He had seen that it was snowing outside, and there was no way he was getting sick.

By the time he had his shoes and everything else on, he had drank his whole mug of coffee. He decided to just stop by Starbucks and grab an extra-large one, knowing his to-go cup would only last him about five minutes.

Alfie had woken him up at five in the morning asking him if he could borrow his car, and Jerome, being half-asleep and annoyed as hell, had said yes. Now he had to take the city bus, and he already knew he wasn't going to enjoy it.

"Oh well," he mumbled, grabbing some extra change and heading out the door.

"Thanks!" Jerome called as the bus zoomed away for its next destination.

He sighed and turned around the corner where the nearest Starbucks was.

He watched as he walked by the park where children dressed up in cute coats and scarves were playing and laughing with one another. A smile tugged on his lips as he walked into the coffee shop he loved.

He breathed in the scent of coffee ad baked goods. He smiled and took his place in line.

"Aye Jerome," Niall, his friend, called from behind a counter.

Jerome waved as he waited for the woman in front of him to finish ordering. He hadn't even bothered to look at her face.

"How much change?" she asked, before dropping her wallet. Silver coins went everywhere, and she knelt down to get them.

Jerome knelt beside her and helped.

"Here you go," he said, extending a hand filled with silver and copper coins.

The girl looked up and Jerome's eyes grew wide.

"Nina?"

"Thanks for the ride, Nina," Jerome said, hopping out of the blue car. "Anything for a friend," Nina said, smiling. "I'll see you at Amber's 'Welcome Back' party next week, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," he assured her. He and Amber had been close friends back in Senior year. They had tried a relationship, but it was too weird. Not just because she was the popular cheerleader and he

was. . . well, him, but because they were practically brother and sister.

"See ya soon," Nina said as she pulled off of the curve and drove away.

Jerome smiled, thinking of his new friend.

Jerome walked up to the front desk, where he was greeted by Trudy. Her radiant smile was wider than usual today, and Jerome eyed her suspiciously.

"What is it that you know and I don't," he asked her.

"Mara's not in her room today," Trudy said, her smile growing. "She's out on the track."

The track? The freakin' track? How could they have a track, but no elevator? How did that work?

"Thanks Trudy," Jerome said, walking outside. He passed the gardens and pool-still not understanding why there's no elevator- and towards the track. Sure enough, Mara was out there, running her butt off.

Jerome's icy blue eyes stared after her. Her dark hair was in a ponytail, and she was dressed in grey yoga pants and a green sports bra. She looked like a professional runner. Not once did she run into anyone. Jerome forgot she was blind for a short moment.

After a while she stopped running, and she yelled, "Mary!"

The woman from the other day came over and helped Mara over to the table where water was set up. What a coincidence. The table was right next to Jerome.

"Jerome?" Mara asked, her breathing heavy. She took a large gulp of water from one of the bottles.

"Yeah," Jerome answered. "How'd you-"

"I smell you," Mara cut him off. "Your cologne, I recognized it."

Jerome nodded, and Mary walked off to make Mara a snack.

"You're a pretty great runner," Jerome commented as the two walked through the garden.

"Thanks," Mara said. Her breathing was normal again, and her brown eyes were shining in the sun. "My parents were athletes. I guess I got it from them."

Out of nowhere, Mara started laughing. Jerome looked at her like she was crazy, and Mara sensed it.

"I just remembered an old patient," Mara explained. "Mick. Mick Campbell. We used to race each other around the track and whoever got back inside first didn't have to do dishes for a month."

"They made you do dishes?" Jerome asked, astonished.

"No!" Mara yelled, surprised he would think such a thing. They were sort of disabled, of course they didn't. "Mick and I were the ones that could do the most around here. We signed up to do it. But once you got in, you couldn't get out."

"Pfsh," Jerome said goofily. "I knew that."

"Sure you did."

"So where is this Campbell guy? I'd love to meet him."

"Oh he's not a patient anymore," Mara said. "He was deaf, you see. But no one knew about it. His parents just said he was moving to Brazil with them and they zoomed out of the country. It was sad. But one day, he woke up and he could hear the birds chirping outside. It was a miracle. They ran a couple of tests and let him go. He still comes by to visit, though."

"Oh," Jerome said, feeling kind of sorry for her. From what he had heard, she and Mick were pretty good friends.

"Thanks for letting me walk you," he changed the subject.

"What're friends for," Mara laughed.

Jerome smiled. Mara Jaffray was possibly the coolest "friend" he'd ever had.

* * *

**Okay, short sweet, fast, simple.**

**I hope you liked it. **

**If you guys review fast enough, I'll update two more times today.**

**I really need to get this story posted, considering I have the finale chapter almost finished.**

**Lots of Love -Drmiracle**


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